Elephants! We got up at 6.00am this morning after very little sleep. We quickly got dressed and got in the washing which included our swimming stuff. We had to walk through Arpora to meet the elephant tour man so i went as fast as i could to get there on time and because it was so exciting! A jeep pulled up seconds after we got to the meeting place and they guy called us over, cool a jeep, the magazine said it was in the middle of nowhere so i thought we might be doing some off roading...Actually we went and picked up 2 other English guys called Kay and Will, who were lovely, and then set of down the newest tarmac roads I'd seen in the whole of India! The jeep style taxi was really a gimmick, we were on really good roads all the way. When we arrived we saw a mud hut campsite with a big area of chairs for eating and a grassy bit in the middle fenced in. Something moved in the grass, hat could it be? Not an elephant far too small...then out popped a huge bunny rabbit! We were ushered over to a set of steps that appeared to lead nowhere then we spotted our first elephant! In the jeep Vincent had said he wanted to ride the biggest elephant, and we did. We climbed the stairs and all 4 of us got on the back of the biggest elephant there, two smaller ones were also giving rides, and off we lurched round a track. The ride was a bit short but it was fun and i could reach to pay our flump on the head and tickle her ear with my foot.Next was the bull-o-cart ride. I have to admit I thought this was pants! We got on a cart behind two beautiful bulls who snorted dramatically as they wheeled around in a kind of bull 3 point turn and headed towards the jungle. We went down the road 200m, round the car park and back all at a slow wandering pace!Back to camp next for breakfast. We had spotted chickens running around camp and from the elephant we saw rice paddies so when we were served scrambled eggs, rice breads, potato curry, coconut bread and chips we could taste and were also told, the food was all fresh from the camp surrounding area.After breakfast was the elephant show. We were assured that if the animals didn't want to do something they didn't have to and they were only taught by treats or withholding treats never cruelly. I was glad i knew that because they did some crazy things! They all stood in a row and danced to music (except the boy didn't fancy it so just stood there waving his trunk in a kind of 'I'm not doing that I'll look silly' way. They showed their agility by standing on a log (I thought that was only in Disney movies!) it wasn't a big log and they had to put all four feet next to each other, they then did a careful 360 turn by picking up their feet in order and spinning round. They played skittles, basketball and polo and even did a bit of litter picking putting plastic bottles in baskets when the trainers dropped them on the floor. They did the spraying with water trick and also did a parade with one of them top to toe in gold. The best bit though was at the end I went up to the big elephant and she put a garland of flowers round my neck and a straw hat on my head! It was amazing how dextrous their trunks were and its really odd to have an elephant snuffling down the back of your neck while she arranges the flowers! Vincent got some elephant Laddoos (a Laddoo is a kind of rice and sugar ball that is an Indian sweet for people I guess these were made with whatever elephants eat) and the elephants went mad for them trying to nick them without having to put hats on people. Vincent held on to his a bit harder than most people so the elephant was sucking and sucking with its trunk while Vincent was holding on trying to keep the treat. When he let it go the elephant chucked it in her mouth and looked very pleased she won the tug of war!After the show we had to go down to the lake. By this time there was an entire bus load of Russians, which was a bit of a shame because when we arrived there wasn't many people around and it felt more personal. We got a lift to the lake in our car as it was a bit of a trek then when we arrived it was a short walk, but quite a hard one, down a slope of slippery rocks to a wide part of a river. The water was clear and lovely but although the day was warm it was ice cold. We decided to pick a spot a bit away from everyone else with Kay and Will the other two English people, dipping our feet in and playing with the tiny fishes. After a while the elephants arrived. We had to get out of the water to let them in and they played on their own for a while with us just watching. The trainers then called the elephants over for bath time.We were given a coconut shell and took it in turns to scrub the elephants of all the dust and dirt they had picked up along the journey. The four of us decided to scrub the baby elephant as she was nearest and it was very hard for me to get around the slippery uneven rocks that made up the river area. It was again a lovely experience to be with such a huge animal and she closed her eyes and lay in the water happily while I scrubbed, then Vincent scrubbed. Sadly on of the other people there from the Russian party was not as nice and tried to put his fingers up her nose/trunk and put her trunk in the water although she was submerged and it was her only way to breathe. Vincent got cross and told him to stop it and go away and there was a tirade from our Indian guide about how much he hated the huge parties of Russians because 'they are dirty people and have a different girlfriend every day!' He continued this theme for the rest of the day and refused to guide anyone but us. After the elephants were deemed clean by the trainers they got up and stood in the water. Now we all formed lines (ish) by them and took in turns for a power shower. You climbed up onto the back of the elephant and then it squirted water all over you! I was surprised just how much water they could pick up at once and how fast it came out - we got some really great photos and Vincent got to stay on for ages cos the elephant just kept soaking him again if he wriggled and tried to get off!We ended the day with another lovely meal and bought a couple of the 'professional' photographs for moments they caught and we hadn't. The journey back was quite a long one so I snuggled in to get a bit of a snooze. The driver tried to get us to go to a few of his mates shops which we politely declined but he was very nice and did drive us to see the 'Bassillica of Bom Jesus' who is apparently a miracle worker because his body is still intact after hundreds of years of being dead. Well they say intact but his right arm was sawn off and taken to Rome to prove he wasn't decomposing and apparently an old Goan woman, on the one day people are allowed near the body to kiss his feet, bit off one of his toes! Sadly if you look closely at his history, I have looked a little but not in much depth, he appears to have been a raving lunatic who travelled the world smashing up any non Christian places of worship and was chucked out of Japan for this. He is also thought to be responsible for the 'Goan Inquisition' which is also not a great legacy.Any way I digress from the most important thing of the day, Elephants! We got back to the resort and looked at all our photos and only then did we realise that people didn't have to ask what we had been doing all day - we smelled like elephants ourselves.